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An  Analysis  of  the 

Why  It  Does  Not  Offer  a  Just  or  Practicable 

Basis  of  Payment  to  the  Raikoads  for 

Carrying  the  Mails 

THE  measure  commonly  known  as  the  "Moon 
bill,"  devised  to  change  the  method  of  paying 
for  mail  transportation  on  railroads,  was  made 
a  rider  on  the  Post  Office  appropriation  bill  in  the  last 
Congress,  but  failed  to  pass.  The  Postmaster  General 
has  announced  that  it  will  be  reintroduced  when  the 
new  Congress  assembles  in  December. 

The  railroad  managers  of  the  country,  earnestly 
believing  the  Moon  bill  to  be  an  unjust  and  improper 
measure,  wish  to  lay  before  Congress  and  the 
public  their  reasons  for  this  conviction.  Three  lead- 
ing reasons  are : 

1.  The  Moon  bill  is  substantially  a  dele- 
gation to  the  Postmaster  General  of  legislative 
control  over  railway  mail  pay. 

2.  It  would  vest  the  Postmaster  General 
with  arbitrary  personal  powers  beyond  the 
proper  scope  of  his  office. 

3.  It  would  tend  to  make  Railway  Mail 
Pay  a  political  instrument  by  making  the 
rates  and  conditions  of  service  on  all 
railroads  discretionary  with  successive  postal 
administrations,  thus  permitting  wide  dis- 
crimination between  different  companies 
and  sections  of  the  country. 


Issued  October  28  y  1915,  hy  the  COMMITTE^^Oy-'R^iL^^r  MAiC^PAT,  75  Church  St.,  Neiv  Tork 
City.      Ralph   Peters,   President  of  the  Long  Island  Railroad  Com^any^  Chairt^an  i  JV.  F.  Allen^  Secretary. 


«t 


How  the  Moon  Bill  Would 
Affect  the  Railroads 


The  Moon  bill  would  confer  upon  the  Postmaster 
General,  who  is  of  necessity  interested  in  the  reduction 
of  the  postal  deficit,  very  broad  authority  to  determine 
what  pay  the  railroads  shall  be  allowed  for  carrying 
the  mails,  and  for  all  other  services  required  by  his 
Department. 

Coupled  with  this  grant  of  the  rate-making 
power  would  be  a  penal  provision  of  great  severity 
under  which  any  railroad  would  be  fined  $5000  per 
day  for  refusing  to  perform  any  service  the  Postmaster 
General  might  demand  for  whatever  he  might  elect 
to  pay.  The  bill  contains  no  provision  by  which  an 
appeal  might  be  taken  from  any  specific  order  or 
decision  so  made. 

The  Moon  bill  would  forbid  the  Postmaster 
General  to  pay  the  railroads  more  than  certain  desig- 
nated rates  for  the  various  services.  These  rates 
would  be  inadequate,  even  if  allowed  in  full,  because 
they  would  limit  the  earnings  from  mail  transporta- 
tion to  a  smaller  return  than  is  derived  from  the  car- 
riage of  passengers,  which  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  has  decided  to  be  an  unremunerative 
service. 

TAe  bill  would  place  no  restraint  of  any  kind^  save 
personal  discretion  ^  upon  the  extent  to  which  the  Post- 
master General  might  reduce  the  compensation  of  the 
railroads^  in  the  exercise  of  the  rate-making  power 
which  would  be  delegated,  fa  -him. 


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2.   . 


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Certain  passages  in  the  Moon  bill  would  specifi- 
cally require  the  railroads,  upon  demand  of  the  Post- 
master General,  to  furnish  his  Department  many 
valuable  special  facilities  without  any  additional  com- 
pensation whatever. 

*  *    *    * 

An  Unfair 
Basis  of  Pay 

The  Moon  bill  would  introduce  other  confisca- 
tory principles  by  setting  up  the  so-called  "space 
plan  "  of  pay,  under  which  the  facilities  of  the  rail- 
roads would  be  virtually  commandeered.  The  rail- 
roads would  be  compelled,  by  this  plan,  to  accept 
flat  mileage  rates  for  mail  cars  and  apartments,  regard- 
less of  the  load  carried. 

The  highest  rates  permitted  by  the  bill — which 
the  Postmaster  General  could  further  reduce  at  his 
discretion — would  be  inadequate  even  for  the  trans- 
portation of  very  light  loads.  Yet  the  Post  Office 
Department  would  claim  the  right  to  load  the  car 
space  to  its  full  capacity,  thereby  making  it  possible 
to  obtain  the  transportation  of  a  very  large  addi- 
tional mail  tonnage  without  payment  for  the  addi- 
tional service  rendered. 

*  *    *    * 
A  Significant 

Feature 

This  feature  of  the  Moon  bill  is  of  great  impor- 
tance and  significance  in  view  of  the  entrance  of  the 
Post  Office  Department  into  the  field  of  commercial 
transportation,  in  competition  with  the  freight  and 
express  services,  through  the  medium  of  the  heavy- 
weight parcel  post.       *527587 

3 


From  the  viewpoint  of  the  public,  also,  the 
"space  plan"  of  pay  would  appear  undesirable  as 
tending  to  result  in  deterioration  of  the  railway  mail 
service.  If  the  system  were  to  be  administered  with 
the  object  of  economy,  the  tendency  would  be  to 
hold  back  the  mails  until  they  could  be  concentrated 
into  heavy  loads,  thus  delaying  their  transmission. 
Under  the  present  system  of  payment  by  weighty  the 
Post  Office  Department  can  utilize  every  train  that 
runs,  without  additional  expense,  and  so  give  the 
public  the  maximum  frequency  of  dispatch. 


What  the  Moon  Bill 
Is  and  Is  Not 

The  Moon  bill,  on  its  face,  purports  in  elaborate 
detail  to  specify  two  things : 

1.  The  way  in  which  the  mails  are  to  be 
transported. 

2.  The  rates  to  be  paid  the  railroads  for 
the  service. 

Analysis  of  the  bill,  however,  will  show  that  it 
really  leaves  these  matters  almost  wholly  to  the 
personal  discretion  of  the  Postmaster  General,  and 
that  by  the  passage  of  the  measure  the  only  definite 
provisions  that  Congress  would  actually  enact  into 
law  would  be : 

First— That  the  Postmaster  General  must 
not  pay  the  railroads  more  than  certain  rates. 

Second — That  the  railroads  must  carry 
the  mails  at  the  rates  the  Postmaster  General 
names. 


Nowhere  does  the  Moon  bill  specify  that  the  Post- 
master   General   shall  pay   the    railroads   anything. 
What  it  does  do  is  to  provide  that  he  may  pay  them 
^' not  exceeding''''  certain  designated  rates  for  the  vari-- 
ous  services  demanded. 

*  *     *    * 
Delegations  of 

Basic  Authority 

The  Moon  bill  contains  no  less  than  ten  specific 
authorizations  to  the  Postmaster  General  to  vary,  at 
will,  the  rates  named  in  the  measure  as  applicable  to 
the  various  railroad  services. 

It  contains  four  specific  authorizations  under 
vv^hich  he  would  be  at  liberty  to  devise  and  put  into 
effect  systems  of  mail  transportation,  and  plans  of 
compensation  for  the  service,  totally  different  from 
the  system  and  plan  which  the  major  portion  of  the 
bill  purports  to  enact  into  law. 

Should  the  authority  conferred  upon  the  Post- 
master General  by  these  supplementary  grants  of 
power  be  fully  exercised,  only  the  first-class  mail, 
which  is  less  than  10  per  cent,  of  the  whole,  would 
be  transported  in  accordance  with  the  plan  set  forth 
in  detail  by  the  Moon  bill.  All  other  mail,  includ- 
ing the  parcel  post,  would  be  carried  under  plans  of 
transportation,  and  of  payment  for  the  same,  initi- 
ated and  put  into  effect  by  the  Postmaster  General, 
independently  of  the  will  of  Congress. 

*  *    *    * 
A  Departmental 

Measure 

In  connection  with  these  vast  grants  of  arbitrary 
power  which  the  Moon  bill  would  confer  upon  the 
head  of  the  Post  Office  Department,  it  is  of  great 


significance  that  the  measure  originated  in,  and  is 
the  proposal  of,  the  Department. 

This  was  revealed  by  the  Chairman  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  Post  Office  Committee,  who  acted 
as  the  sponsor  of  the  bill  in  Congress.  In  his  speech 
of  August  6,  1914,  when  asking  for  support  of  the 
bill.  Chairman  Moon  said : 

**This  particular  section  [the  railway  mail 
pay  measure]  is  the  suggestion  of  the  Post 
Office  Department.  It  is  peculiarly  their 
section  to  this  bill/' 

{Cong.  Rec,  August  6,  1914,  p.  14561.) 
*      *      *      * 

No  Protection  for 
the  Railroads 

Nowhere  does  the  Moon  bill  specify  that  the  rates 
allowed  the  railroads  by  the  Postmaster  General  shall 
be  compensatory^  or  fair^  or  just^  or  even  reasonable. 

Under  the  terms  of  such  a  measure,  it  would 
obviously  be  impossible  for  the  management  of  any 
railroad  to  estimate,  even  roughly,  what  revenue  it 
might  count  upon  receiving  from  the  service  of 
transporting  the  mails. 

The  bill  contains  no  provision  that  equal  rates 
shall  be  paid  the  railroads  for  equal  services.  In 
view  of  the  tremendous  powers  which  it  would  con- 
fer upon  the  Postmaster  General,  in  determining  the 
rates  and  conditions  of  service,  and  of  the  absence  of 
all  provision  for  appeal  from  any  specific  exercise  of 
such  powers,  the  possibilities  of  discrimination,  for 
political  or  other  reasons,  are  obvious. 

It  would  be  possible  to  pay  different  railroads 
dissimilar  rates  for  similar  services,  or  to  make  the 

6 


conditions  of  service  imposed  upon  various  compa- 
nies very  unequal.  Discrimination  might  easily  be 
upon  sectional  lines. 

What  the  railroads  should  be  paid  for  carry- 
ing the  mails  is  purely  a  business  question  and 
ought  to  be  kept  out  of  politics.  The  Moon 
bill  would  be  a  most  effective  means  of  put- 
ting it  into  politics. 

*    *    *    * 

For  the  information  of  Congress  and  of  the 
public  at  large,  the  complete  text  of  the  Moon  bill, 
or  rider,  is  analyzed  in  the  follov^ing  pages. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/analysisofmoonbiOOcommrich 


The  Moon  Bill  or  Railway 
Mail  Pay  Rider 

In  its  final  form  as  Section  10  of  the  Post 
Office  appropriation  bill  for  1915-16 


Reprinted  with  explanatory  comments 


iThi  text  9/ the  Moon  bill^  or  rider ^  is  taken  from  the  Congressional  Record  for 
March  15,  1915,  page  6581.  For  purposes  of  reference  the  paragraphs  are 
numbered  and  certain  passages  underscored. ) 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

(1)  SEC.  10.     That  the  Postmaster  General  is  authorized 

and  directed  to  readjust  the  compensation  to  be  paid  to  rail- 
road companies  from  and  after  the  30th  day  of  June,  1915, 
or  as  soon  thereafter  as  may  be  practicable,  for  the  trans- 
portation and  handling  of  the  mails  and  furnishing  facilities 
and  services  in  connection  therewith  upon  the  conditions 
and  at  the  rates  hereinafter  provided. 

Comment : 

The  Moon  bill,  from  end  to  end,  does  not  specify  a  single  definite 
rate  which  the  railroads  are  to  be  paid,  but,  on  the  contrary,  in  each 
instance  delegates  the  power  of  fixing  the  rates  to  the  Postmaster 
General,  See  the  comments  following  paragraphs  7,  9,  10,  11, 
12,  13,  14,  16  and  19. 

The  Moon  bill  does,  in  its  main  body,  minutely  specify 
many  conditions  of  service,  but  the  supplementary  grants  of  power 
under  paragraphs  32,  35,  36  and  37  would  permit  the  Postmaster 
General,  at  his  own  volition,  to  annul  these  provisions  com- 
pletely as  to  the  transportation  of  more  than  90  per  cent,  of  the 
mail.  Paragraphs  17,  19,  24  and  26  also  specifically  authorize 
the  Postmaster  General  to  determine  and  alter  the  conditions  of 
service  in  most  vital  respects. 

9 


Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(2)  The  Postmaster  General  may  state  railroad  mail  routes 
and  authorize  mail  service  thereon  of  the  following  four 
classes,  namely:  Full  railway  post  office  car  service, 
apartment  railway  post  office  car  service,  storage-car  ser- 
vice, and  closed-pouch  service. 

Comment : 

Under  the  terms  of  paragraphs  32,  35,  36  and  37  the  Post- 
master General  would  be  at  liberty  to  disregard  these  classifica- 
tions of  service  herein  purporting  to  be  established  by  Congress, 
and  substitute  other  classifications  and  plans  of  transportation 
devised  and  initiated  by  himself,  independently  of  Congress. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(3)  Full  railway  post  office  car  mail  service  shall  be  service 
by  cars  40  feet  or  more  in  length,  constructed,  fitted  up,  and 
maintained  for  the  distribution  of  mails  on  trains.  The 
authorizations  of  full  railway  post  office  cars  shall  be  for 
standard-sized  cars  60  feet  in  length,  inside  measurement, 
except  as  hereinafter  provided. 

(4)  Apartment  railway  post  office  car  mail  service  shall  be 
service  by  apartments  less  than  40  feet  in  length  in  cars 
constructed,  fitted  up,  and  maintained  for  the  distribution 
of  mails  on  trains.  Two  standard  sizes  of  apartment  rail- 
way post  office  cars  may  be  authorized  and  paid  for,  namely, 
apartments  15  feet  and  30  feet  in  length,  inside  measure- 
ment, except  as  hereinafter  provided. 

(5)  Storage  car  mail  service  shall  be  service  by  cars  used 
for  the  storage  and  carriage  of  mails  in  transit  other  than 
by  full  and  apartment  railway  post  office  cars.  The  author- 
izations for  storage  cars  shall  be  for  cars  60  feet  in  length, 
inside  measurement,  except  as  hereinafter  provided :  Pro- 
vided, That  less  than  60  feet  of  storage  space  may  be 
authorized  in  baggage  cars. 

(6)  Service  by  full  and  apartment  railway  post  office  cars 
and  storage  cars  shall  include  the  carriage  therein  of  all  mail 
matter,  equipment,  and  supplies  for  the  mail  service  and  the 
employes  of  the  Postal  Service  or  Post  Office  Department 
as  shall  be  directed  by  the  Postmaster  General  to  be  so 
carried. 

10 


Comment : 

Paragraph  6,  taken  in  connection  with  the  '"space  plan*' 
of  pay,  would  apparently  authorize  the  Postmaster  General  to 
demand  transportation,  without  payment  of  fare,  for  any  employe 
of  his  Department  traveling  for  any  purpose  whatever.  Com- 
pare the  provisions  of  paragraph  27  and  the  comments  thereon 
as  to  the  impropriety  and  inconsistency  of  demanding  free 
transportation  for  postal  officers  or  employes  not  actually  in 
charge  of  the  mails  in  transit. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(7)  Closed-pouch  mail  service  shall  be  the  transportation 
and  handling  by  railroad  employes   of  mails  on  trains  on 

^   which  full  or  apartment  railway  post  office  cars  are  not 
authorized,  except  as  hereinbefore  provided. 

Comment : 

The  bill,  up  to  this  point,  purports  to  establish  the  physi- 
cal character  of  the  mail  service  to  be  performed  by  railroads. 
But  the  provisions  of  paragraphs  32,  35,  36  and  37  would  allow 
the  Postmaster  General  to  devise  entirely  different  plans  for 
all  but  first-class  mail,  or  less  than  10  per  cent,  of  the  whole. 

SjC  Sj*  •X*  "T* 

The  paragraphs,  Nos.  8  to  14,  which  follow,  purport  to 
establish  a  system  of  rates  to  be  paid  the  railroads  for  the 
mail-carrying  service.  In  reality,  however,  the  use  of  the 
words  '*  not  exceeding'*  in  connection  with  every  specified  rate 
would  place  the  power  of  actually  fixing  the  rates  in  the  hands 
of  the  Postmaster  General,  with  the  sole  limitation  that  he 
must  not  pay  more  than  certain  sums.  He  could  pay  as  much 
less  as  he  might  choose.  He  could  alter  the  rates  at  will  and 
could  pay  different  companies  different  rates  for  identical  services. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(8)  The  rates  of  payment  for  the  services  authorized  in  ac- 
cordance with  this  Act  shall  be  as  follows,  namely : 

(9)  For  full  railway  post  office  car  mail  service  at  not  ex- 
ceeding 21  cents  for  each  mile  of  service  by  a  60-foot  car. 

11 


Comment : 

This  paragraph  contains  the  first  of  the  ten  specific  author- 
izations to  the  Postmaster  General  to  vary  the  rates.  Under 
its  terms  he  could  allow  a  given  railroad  anything  betw^een  21 
cents  and  nothing  per  mile  for  the  hauling  of  a  60-foot  railway 
post  office  car,  with  its  contents,  equipment  and  accompanying 
clerks. 

The  21-cent  rate  would  be  unjustly  low,  even  if  allowed  in 
full,  because  it  would  he  Syi  cents,  or  21  per  cent,  less  per  car- 
mile  than  the  average  gross  return  from  passenger  transporta- 
tion, which  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  has  declared 
to  be  unremunerative.  The  mails  are  carried  in  passenger 
trains  or  in  special  mail  trains  run  on  passenger  schedules. 
The  mail  service  is  in  many  respects  more  burdensome  to 
perform  than  passenger  transportation  and  in  justice  should 
certainly  not  be  limited  to  a  materially  lower  gross  return. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

riO)  In  addition  thereto  he  may  allow  not  exceeding  $2  as  an 

initial  rate  and  the  same  as  a  terminal  rate  for  each  one-way 
trip  of  a  60-foot  car. 

Comment : 

This  paragraph,  by  making  the  initial  and  terminal  rates 
for  railway  post  office  cars  optional  with  the  Postmaster  Gen- 
eral, embodies  the  second  specific  authorization  under  which 
he  could  vary  the  rates. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(11)  For  apartment  railway  post  office  car  mail  service  at 

not  exceeding  11  cents  for  each  mile  of  service  by  a  30-foot 
apartment  car  and  6  cents  for  each  mile  of  service  by  a  15- 
foot  apartment  car. 

Comment : 

This  paragraph  contains  the  third  specific  authorization  to 
the  Postmaster  General  to  determine  rates. 

12 


The  rates  named,  like  those  for  the  full  60-foot  cars,  would 
be  inadequate  even  though  allowed  in  full,  and  for  the  same 
reason.     See  comment  on  paragraph  9. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(12)  In  addition  thereto  he  may  allow  not  exceeding  $1  as 
an  initial  rate  and  the  same  as  a  terminal  rate  for  each  one- 
way trip  of  a  30-foot  apartment  car  and  50  cents  as  an  initial 
rate  and  the  same  as  a  terminal  rate  for  each  one-way  trip 
of  a  15 -foot  apartment  car. 

Comment : 

The  fourth  authorization  under  which  the  Postmaster 
General  would  be  empowered  to  vary  the  rates  is  embodied  in 
this  paragraph. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(13)  For  storage-car  mail  service  at  not  exceeding  20  cents 
for  each  mile  of  service  by  a  60 -foot  car. 

Comment : 

This  is  the  fifth  specific  authorization  to  vary  the  rates. 
See  also  the  comment  on  paragraph  9,  as  to  the  inadequacy  of 
the  20-cent  rate,  even  if  allowed  in  full. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(14)  In  addition  thereto  he  may  allow  not  exceeding  $2  as 
an  initial  rate  and  the  same  as  a  terminal  rate  for  each  one- 
way trip  of  a  60 -foot  car. 

Comment : 

The  sixth  authorization  to  vary  rates  is  contained  in  this 

paragraph. 

*     *     *     * 

The  bill,  thus  far,  outlines  what  is  known  as  the  "  space 
plan  "  of  transporting  the  mails  and  paying  the  railroads  for  the 
service.  Its  chief  feature  is  that  instead  of  basing  the  compen- 
sation to  the  railroads  upon  the  amount,  or  weight,  of  mail  carried 

13 


and  the  distance  it  is  hauled — the  true  measure  of  the  service 
rendered — it  would  base  the  rates  upon  the  amount  of  car  space 
authorized  hythe  Post  Office  Department  in  specially  designated 
trains,  and  to  be  paid  for  on  a  flat  mileage  basis,  irrespective  of 
the  mail  tonnage  actually  carried. 

The  defects  of  the  *' space  plan"  are  : 

First,  That  the  payment  of  inadequate  car-mile  rates  for  car 
space  (w^hich  the  Post  Office  Department  would  claim  the  right 
to  use  to  full  capacity)  would  deprive  the  railroads  of  compen- 
sation for  transportation  service  actually  rendered,  the  obvious 
purpose  being  to  permit  a  large  increase  in  the  mail  tonnage, 
through  the  parcel  post  and  otherwise,  without  increasing  the 
payments  to  the  railroads.  Indeed,  their  compensation  could 
actually  be  reduced  while  the  mail  tonnage  was  increasing. 

That  the  latter  process  would  be  unjust  was  the  conclusion 
of  the  Joint  Congressional  Committee  on  Railway  Mail  Pay, 
which,  in  its  report,  observed,  '*  No  reasonable  man  can  expect 
that  the  Government  can  increase  its  postal  revenues  at  an 
average  rate  of  $13,000,000  per  year  without  increasing  its 
expenses  in  practically  all  departments  of  the  service,  though 
perhaps  at  a  smaller  ratio.'* 

Second,  That  the  Post  Office  Department  would  be  limited 
to  the  authorized  space,  on  the  designated  trains.  This  would 
reduce  the  frequency  of  service  and  impair  its  quality,  since, 
under  the  present  system  of  payment  for  the  weight  of  mail 
and  the  distance  of  transportation,  the  Department  can  freely  use 
every  train  that  runsy  and  at  no  additional  expense — obviously  the 
most  advantageous  condition  for  the  public. 

*     *     *     * 

Mail,  as  far  as  the  railroads  are  concerned,  is  freight 
of  the  very  highest  grade.  Rates  for  the  transportation 
of  all  other  freight  are  based  on  the  weight  carried  and  the 
distance  of  the  haul.  The  Government,  itself,  charges 
postage  in  accordance  with  weight  and,  in  the  case  of  the 
parcel  post,  in  accordance  with  distance  also.  No  just 
reason  has  ever  been  assigned  why  the  Post  Office  Depart- 
ment should  decline  to  pay  the  railroads  on  the  same  basis. 

14 


Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(15)  Where  authorizations  are  made  for  cars  of  the  standard 
lengths  of  60,  30,  and  15  feet,  as  provided  by  this  Act,  and 
the  railroad  company  is  unable  to  furnish  such  cars  of  the 
length  authorized,  but  furnishes  cars  of  lesser  length  than 
those  authorized,  but  which  are  determined  by  the  depart- 
ment to  be  sufficient  for  the  service,  the  Postmaster  General 
may  accept  the  same  and  pay  only  for  the  actual  space  fur- 
nished and  used,  the  compensation  to  be  not  exceeding  pro 
rata  of  that  provided  by  this  Act  for  the  standard  length  so 
authorized :  Provided,  That  the  Postmaster  General  may 
accept  cars  and  apartments  of  greater  length  than  those  of 
the  standard  requested,  but  no  compensation  shall  be 
allowed  for  such  excess  lengths. 

(16)  For  closed-pouch  service,  on  routes  upon  which  closed- 
pouch  service  only  is  performed,  at  not  exceeding  the  rates 
of  compensation,  provided  by  existing  law  for  average  daily 
weights  of  mail  carried  over  the  whole  route;  on  routes 
upon  which  apartment  railway  post  office  car  and  closed- 
pouch  services  are  performed,  at  not  exceeding  $20  per  mile 
per  annum  for  each  2000  pounds  average  daily  weight  of 
mails  carried,  and  at  pro  rata  of  such  rate  of  compensation 
for  each  100  pounds  of  average  daily  weight  greater  or  less 
than  2000  pounds ;  and  on  routes  upon  which  full  railway 
post  office  car  and  closed-pouch  services  or  full  railway 
post  office  car,  apartment  car,  and  closed-pouch  services 
are  performed,  at  not  exceeding  $19  per  mile  per  annum 
for  each  2000  pounds  average  daily  weight  of  mails  carried, 
and  at  pro  rata  of  such  rate  of  compensation  for  each  100 
pounds  of  average  daily  weight  greater  or  less  than  2000 
pounds,  the  average  daily  weights  to  be  ascertained  in  every 
case  by  the  actual  weighing  of  the  mails. 

Comment : 

Paragraph  16  would  continue  the  weight-and-distance 
system  of  payment  for  the  mail  carried  in  closed  pouches,  in 
baggage  cars ;  but  this,  however,  is  only  about  2  per  cent,  of 
the  total  mail. 

The  paragraph,  moreover,  as  indicated  by  the  underscor- 
ing, allows  the  Postmaster  General  to  fix  the  rates,  within 

15 


maximum  limitations,  and   contains  the  seventh,  eighth  and 
ninth  of  the  10  specific  delegations  of  such  authority. 

Moreover,  even  the  highest  rates  the  Postmaster  General 
would  be  authorized,  under  this  paragraph,  to  pay  for  the  closed 
pouch  service  on  routes  where  mail  cars  or  apartments  are  also 
operated,  would  be  unjustly  low,  as  they  are  wholesale  rates, 
but  would  be  applicable  to  a  distinctly  retail  form  of  service. 
The  highest  rate  mentioned  is  $20  per  mile  per  year  for  the 
transportation  of  an  average  weight  of  one  ton  daily.  At  this 
rate,  which  the  Postmaster  General  could  further  reduce  if  he 
chose,  a  railroad  would  have  to  carry,  for  example,  two  mail 
bags,  weighing  together  100  pounds,  a  distance  of  50  miles  to 
earn  13  cents.  The  railroad  would  earn  more  than  twice  that  sum 
from  100  pounds  of  express  traffic  carried  an  equal  distance  at  the 
rates  revised  and  directed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 
On  weights  less  than  100  pounds  the  disproportion  in  favor  of 
the  express  traffic  would  be  still  greater. 

Moon  BUI  Text, 

Continued 

(17)  The    Postmaster   General   may  require   railroad  com- 

panies carrying  the  mails  to  deliver  them  into  and  take 
them  from  the  terminal  and  intermediate  post  offices  and 
transfer  them  between  railroad  stations  on  their  routes 
without  additional  compensation,  under  such  regulations 
as  he  may  deem  proper,  in  cases  where  he  does  not  provide 
for  such  service  otherwise  :  Provided,  That  the  Postmaster 
General  in  his  discretion  may  relieve  any  of  the  roads  of 
such  service. 

Comment : 

This  paragraph  would  permit  the  unlimited  extension, 
under  the  direct  sanction  of  law,  of  a  practice  which  the  rail- 
roads have  long  protested  as  unjust.  At  present,  the  railroads 
are  required,  without  compensation  other  than  that  covering 
the  rail  haul,  to  carry  the  mails  between  railroad  stations  and 
post  offices  and  from  one  railroad  station  to  another,  where 
the  distance  does  not  exceed  one  quarter  of  a  mile,  also  between 
terminals   of  mail   routes  and  the  post  offices,    regardless   of 

16 


distance.  The  Joint  Congressional  Committee  on  Railway 
Mail  Pay  declared  this  practice  unfair  and  reported  that  ''con- 
veyance of  mail  on  city  streets  is  no  proper  part  of  railroad 
duty."  Yet  this  paragraph  of  the  Moon  bill  would  permit  the 
Postmaster  General  to  exact  as  much  more  service  of  this 
kind  as  he  might  desire  from  the  railroads  and  *'  without  additional 
compensation.'* 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(18)  Railroad  companies  whose  railroads  were  constructed 
in  whole  or  in  part  by  a  land  grant  made  by  Congress,  on 
the  condition  that  the  mails  should  be  transported  over 
their  roads  at  such  price  as  Congress  should  by  law  direct, 
shall  receive  only  80  per  cent,  of  the  compensation  other- 
wise authorized  by  this  Act. 

(19)  The  initial  and  terminal  rates  provided  for  herein  shall 
cover  expenses  of  loading  and  unloading  mails,  switching, 
lighting,  heating,  cleaning  mail  cars,  and  all  other  expenses 
incidental  to  station  service  and  required  by  the  Postmaster 
General  in  connection  with  the  mails  that  are  not  included 
in  the  car-mile  rate.  The  allowance  for  full  railway  post 
office  cars,  apartment  railway  post  office  cars,  and  storage 
cars  may  be  varied  in  accordance  with  the  approximate  dif- 
ference in  their  respective  cost  of  construction  and  main- 
tenance. 

Comment : 

The  meaning  of  the  underscored  portion  of  paragraph  19 
is  vague,  but  might  be  interpreted  as  a  species  of  general 
license  to  the  Postmaster  General  to  exact  various  additional 
station  facilities  from  the  railroads,  at  the  terminals  of  mail 
routes,  without  additional  payment  for  the  same. 

This  paragraph  also,  in  its  last  sentence,  contains  the  tenth 
specific  authorization  to  the  Postmaster  General  to  vary  rates. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(20)  For  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  average  weight  of 
closed-pouch  mails  per  day  upon  which  to  adjust  compen- 
sation, the  Postmaster  General  is  authorized  and  directed  to 

17 


have  such  mails  carried  on  the  several  routes  weighed  by 
the  employes  of  the  Post  Office  Department  for  such  a  num- 
ber of  successive  days,  not  less  than  35,  at  such  times  after 
the  passage  of  this  Act,  as  he  may  direct,  and  not  less  fre- 
quently than  once  in  every  year  thereafter,  the  result  to  be 
stated  and  certified  in  such  form  and  manner  as  he  may 
direct.  In  computing  the  average  weight  of  mails  per  day 
carried  on  a  railroad  route,  the  whole  number  of  days 
included  in  the  weighing  period  shall  be  used  as  a  divisor. 
The  expense  of  taking  the  weights  of  mails  and  the  compen- 
sation to  tabulators  and  clerks  employed  in  connection  with 
the  weighings,  for  assistance  in  completing  computations,  and 
of  rentals,  if  necessary,  in  Washington,  D.  C,  shall  be  paid 
out  of  the  appropriation  for  inland  transportation  by  railroad 
routes. 

Comment : 

This  paragraph,  in  its  first  sentence,  gives  important 
recognition  to  the  justice  of  the  railroads'  contention  that 
fairness  and  the  ordinary  principles  of  business  practice  would 
require  the  mails  to  be  weighed  at  least  once  a  year,  instead  of 
once  in  four  years,  as  at  present,  for  the  purpose  of  determining 
the  average  daily  weights  for  which  the  railroads  are  to  be  paid. 
The  other  portions  of  the  bill,  however,  eliminate  weight  as  a 
factor  in  fixing  the  rates  save  for  the  closed-pouch  mail,  or  only 
about  2  per  cent,  of  the  whole. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(21)  In  computing  the  car  miles  of  the  full  railway  post 
office  cars  and  apartment  railway  post  office  cars,  the  maxi- 
mum space  authorized  in  either  direction  of  a  round-trip 
car  run  shall  be  regarded  as  the  space  to  be  computed  in  both 
directions,  unless  otherwise  mutually  agreed  upon. 

(22)  In  computing  the  car  miles  of  storage  cars,  the  maxi- 
mum space  authorized  in  either  direction  of  a  round-trip  car 
run  shall  be  regarded  as  the  space  to  be  computed  in  both 
directions,  unless  the  car  be  used  by  the  company  in  the 
return  movement,  or  otherwise  mutually  agreed  upon. 

18 


Comment : 

The  provisions  of  paragraphs  21  and  22,  to  the  effect  that 
authorized  car  space  shall  be  paid  for  in  both  directions,  con- 
cedes the  operating  necessity  of  the  return  trip  of  the  car,  not 
at  present  recognized  in  the  practice  of  the  Post  Office  Depart- 
ment, but  the  significance  of  the  provision  is  practically  nulli- 
fied by  the  general  delegations  of  power  to  the  Postmaster 
General  to  make  and  alter  the  rates  and  conditions  of  service, 
and  to  require  compulsory  service. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(23)  New  service  and  additional  service  may  be  authorized 
at  not  exceeding  the  rates  herein  provided,  and  service  may 
be  reduced  or  discontinued  with  pro  rata  reductions  in 
pay,  as  the  needs  of  the  Postal  Service  may  require; 
Provided,  That  no  additional  pay  shall  be  allowed  for  addi- 
tional closed-pouch  service  on  established  routes  until  the 
next  regular  readjustment  of  pay  therefor  on  such  routes, 
and  no  additional  pay  shall  be  allowed  for  additional  car 
service  unless  specifically  authorized  by  the  Postmaster 
General. 

Comment : 

The  terms  of  this  paragraph  would  permit  the  Postmaster 
General  to  discontinue,  without  notice,  the  use  of  and  payment 
for  mail  cars  or  apartments  specially  constructed  at  his  order 
and  at  a  cost  of  many  thousands  of  dollars.  Such  cars  would  be 
unsuited  for  other  forms  of  railroad  service  without  costly 
rebuilding. 

In  these  cases  the  mail  would  continue  to  be  carried  on  the 
train,  but  in  the  baggage  car  instead  of  in  the  mail  car,  and 
would  not  be  paid  for  by  the  Post  Office  Department  until 
after  the  next  annual  weighing  and  readjustment  of  rates. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(24)  All  cars  or  parts  of  cars  used  for  the  Railway  Mail 
Service  shall  be  of  such  construction,  style,  length,  and 
character,  and  furnished    in    such  manner  as  shall  be  re- 

19 


quired  by  the  Postmaster  General,  and  shall  be  con- 
structed, fitted  up,  maintained,  heated,  lighted,  and  cleaned 
by  and  at  the  expense  of  the  railroad  companies.  No  pay 
shall  be  allowed  for  service  by  any  railway  post  office  car 
which  is  not  sound  in  material  and  construction  and  which 
is  not  equipped  with  sanitary  drinking  water  containers  and 
toilet  facilities,  nor  unless  such  car  is  regularly  and  thor- 
oughly cleaned.  No  pay  shall  be  allowed  for  service  by  any 
wooden  full  railway  post  office  car  unless  constructed  sub- 
stantially in  accordance  with  the  most  approved  plans  and 
specifications  of  the  Post  Office  Department  for  such  type 
of  cars,  nor  for  service  by  any  wooden  full  railway  post 
office  car  run  in  any  train  between  adjoining  steel  cars,  or 
between  the  engine  and  a  steel  car  adjoining.  After  the  1st 
of  July,  1917,  the  Postmaster  General  shall  not  approve  or 
allow  to  be  used,  or  pay  for  service  by,  any  full  railway  post 
office  car  not  constructed  of  steel  or  steel  underframe  or 
equally  indestructible  material,  and  not  less  than  25  per 
cent,  of  the  full  railway  post  office  cars  of  a  railway  com- 
pany not  conforming  to  these  provisions  on  August  24,  1912, 
shall  be  replaced  with  cars  constructed  of  steel  annually 
after  June,  1913 ;  and  all  full  railway  post  office  cars  ac- 
cepted for  this  service  and  contracted  for  by  the  railroad 
companies  hereafter  shall  be  constructed  of  steel.  Until 
July  1,  1917,  in  cases  of  emergency  and  in  cases  where  the 
necessities  of  the  service  require  it,  the  Postmaster  General 
may  provide  for  service  by  full  railway  post  office  cars  of 
other  than  steel  or  steel  underframe  construction,  and  fix 
therefor  such  rate  of  compensation  within  the  maximum 
herein  provided  as  shall  give  consideration  to  the  inferior 
character  of  construction,  and  the  railroad  companies  shall 
furnish  service  by  such  cars  at  such  rates  so  fixed. 

Comment : 

Under  the  terms  of  this  paragraph,  any  railroad,  regardless 
of  its  financial  resources,  would  be  compelled  to  construct  all 
mail  cars,  and  all  cars  containing  mail  apartments,  of  any  mate- 
rial or  style,  irrespective  of  cost,  that  the  Postmaster  General 
might  specify,  and  to  build  and  place  in  operation  new  ones 
upon  demand.  The  mandatory  feature  of  the  bill  (see  paragraph 
41)  would  leave  the  railroads  no  alternative  but  to  comply, 
while   under  the  provisions  of  paragraph   23   the    Postmaster 

20 


General  could,  at  any  time  and  without  notice,  discontinue  the 
use  of  and  payment  for  such  cars,  leaving  them  on  the  hands 
of  the  railroad. 

Respecting  the  provisions  for  the  replacement  of  w^ooden 
with  steel  postal  cars,  it  may  be  said  that  the  railroads,  in  general, 
are  adopting  steel  equipment  as  fast  as  their  resources  permit. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(25)  Service  over  property  owned  or  controlled  by  another 
company  or  a  terminal  company  shall  be  considered  service 
of  the  railroad  company  using  such  property  and  not  that  of 
the  other  or  terminal  company  :  Provided,  That  service  over 
a  land-grant  road  shall  be  paid  for  as  herein  provided. 

(26)  Railroad  companies  carrying  the  mails  shall  furnish  all 
necessary  facilities  for  caring  for  and  handling  them  while 
in  their  custody.  They  shall  furnish  all  cars  or  parts  of  cars 
used  in  the  transportation  and  distribution  of  the  mails, 
except  as  is  herein  otherwise  provided,  and  place  them  in 
stations  before  the  departure  of  trains  at  such  times  and 
when  required  to  do  so.  They  shall  provide  station  space 
and  rooms  for  handling,  distribution,  and  transfer  of  mails 
in  transit,  and  for  offices  and  rooms  for  the  employes  of 
the  Postal  Service  engaged  in  such  transportation,  when 
required  by  the  Postmaster  General. 

Comment : 

The  practices  of  the  Post  Office  Department  already  com- 
pel the  railroads  in  many  instances  to  place  mail  cars,  or  cars 
containing  mail  apartments,  in  terminals  hours  before  the  de- 
parture of  trains,  to  be  used  by  the  postal  clerks  for  the  sorting 
of  mail.  The  railroads  are  paid  nothing  for  this  utilization  of 
extremely  valuable  terminal  room,  but  the  Department  is  re- 
lieved from  the  necessity  of  renting  office  space  elsewhere. 
Paragraph  26  would  give  this  practice  the  sanction  of  law. 

The  words,  '* handling,  distribution y''  in  the  last  sentence, 
might  require  the  railroads  to  furnish  office  space  in  terminals, 
rent  free,  for  general  post  office  purposes. 

21 


Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(27)  Every  railroad  company  carrying  the  mails  shall  carry 
on  any  train  it  operates  and  without  extra  charge  therefor 
the  persons  in  charge  of  the  mails,  and  when  on  duty  and 
traveling  to  and  from  duty,  and  all  duly  accredited  agents 
and  officers  of  the  Post  Office  Department  and  the  Postal 
Service,  while  traveling  on  official  business,  upon  the  exhi- 
bition of  their  credentials. 

Comment : 

No  other  Department  of  theGovernment  has  ever  demanded 
for  its  officers  or  employes  the  right  to  free  transportation  upon 
railroad  trains  and,  from  the  President  down,  all  pay  fare.  To 
carry  "the  persons  in  charge  of  the  mails  *'  is  naturally  part  of 
the  service  of  mail  transportation,  but  that  should  be  the  limit 
of  the  practice.  No  better  reason  exists  why  postal  officers  or 
postmasters  who  are  not  associated  with  the  transportation  of  the 
mails  should  be  carried  free  than  exists  for  the  free  transporta- 
tion of  all  the  other  half-million  Federal  officers  and  employes. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(28)  If  any  railroad  company  carrying  the  mails  shall  fail  or 
refuse  to  provide  cars  or  apartments  in  cars  for  distribution 
purposes  when  required  by  the  Postmaster  General,  or  shall 
fail  or  refuse  to  construct,  fit  up,  maintain,  heat,  light,  and 
clean  such  cars  and  provide  such  appliances  for  use  in  case 
of  accident  as  may  be  required  by  the  Postmaster  General, 
it  shall  be  fined  such  reasonable  sum  as  may,  in  the  discretion 
of  the  Postmaster  General,  be  deemed  proper. 

(29)  The  Postmaster  General  shall  in  all  cases  decide  upon 
what  trains  and  in  what  manner  the  mails  shall  be  conveyed. 
Every  railroad  company  carrying  the  mails  shall  carry  on  any 
train  it  operates  and  with  due  speed  all  mailable  matter, 
equipment,  and  supplies  directed  to  be  carried  thereon.  If 
any  such  railroad  company  shall  fail  or  refuse  to  transport 
the  mails,  equipment,  and  supplies  when  required  by  the 
Postmaster  General  on  any  train  or  trains  it  operates,  such 
company  shall  be  fined  such  reasonable  amount  as  may,  in 
the  discretion  of  the  Postmaster  General,  be  deemed  proper. 

22 


(30)  The  Postmaster  General  may  make  deductions  from  the 
pay  of  railroad  companies  carrying  the  mails  under  the  pro- 
visions of  this  Act  for  reduction  in  service  or  in  frequency  of 
service  where,  in  his  judgment,  the  importance  of  the  facili- 
ties withdrawn  or  reduced  requires  it,  and  impose  fines  upon 
them  for  delinquencies.  He  may  deduct  the  price  of  the  value 
of  the  service  in  cases  where  it  is  not  performed,  and  not 
exceeding  three  times  its  value  if  the  failure  be  occasioned 
by  the  fault  of  the  railroad  company. 

Comment : 

Paragraphs  28,  29  and  30  would  place  discretionary  puni- 
tive power  in  the  hands  of  the  Postmaster  General,  limited  only 
by  the  use  of  the  word  "reasonable/'  the  meaning  of  which  is 
subject  to  individual  interpretation,  and  by  the  use  in  para- 
graph 30  of  the  words,  "price  of  the  value  of  the  service" 
and  "not  exceeding  three  times  its  value."  The  "value"  of 
a  service  is  not  a  mathematically  ascertainable  quantity,  but 
a  matter  of  personal  judgment. 

Irregularities  in  the  performance  of  scheduled  mail  service 
are  infrequent,  and  in  nearly  all  cases  due  to  causes  beyond  the 
control  of  the  railroad  companies,  and  are  rarely  due  to  willful 
neglect  or  culpable  negligence  on  the  part  of  their  employes. 
It  is  therefore  the  contention  of  the  railroad  managers  that  the 
punitive  power  of  the  Postmaster  General,  in  the  case  of 
failures  to  perform  such  service,  should  be  limited  to  fines  or 
deductions  equal  to  the  revenue  which  would  have  been  earned. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(31)  The  provisions  of  this  section  shall  apply  to  service 
operated  by  railroad  companies  partly  by  railroad  and  partly 
by  steamboats. 

Comment : 

Mail  service  by  steamboats  is  of  an  entirely  different  char- 
acter from  service  by  railroads,  and  should  be  dealt  with  sepa- 
rately. It  is  not  easy  to  see  how  payment  by  the  car-mtleyw)\ich. 
is  what  the  Moon  bill,  up  to  this  point,  proposes,  could  be 
applied  to  transportation  in  vessels. 

23 


Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(32)  The  provisions  of  this  section  respecting  the  rates  of 
compensation  shall  not  apply  to  mails  conveyed  under  spe- 
cial arrangement  in  freight  trains,  for  which  rates  not  ex- 
ceeding the  usual  and  just  freight  rates  may  be  paid,  in 
accordance  with  the  classifications  and  tariffs  approved  by 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

Comment : 

This  paragraph  contains  the  first  of  the  four  specific  au- 
thorizations to  the  Postmaster  General  to  nullify  all  the  pre- 
ceding portions  of  the  measure  as  to  at  least  90  per  cent,  of  the 
mail,  and  to  devise  and  put  into  effect  entirely  different  schemes 
of  mail  transportation  and  of  payment  for  the  same. 

It  may  be  noted  that  the  language  of  this  paragraph  does 
not  specify  that  the  Postmaster  General  shall  pay  the  usual  and 
just  freight  rates,  but  that  he  ''may''  pay  '' not  exceeding''  those 
rates. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(33)  Railroad  companies  carrying  the  mails  shall  submit, 
under  oath,  when,  and  in  such  form  as  may  be  required  by 
the  Postmaster  General,  evidence  as  to  the  performance  of 
service. 

(34)  The  Postmaster  General  is  authorized  to  employ  such 
clerical  and  other  assistance  as  shall  be  necessary  to  carry 
out  the  provisions  of  this  section,  and  to  rent  quarters  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  if  necessary,  for  the  clerical  force  en- 
gaged thereon,  and  to  pay  for  the  same  out  of  the  appropri- 
ation for  inland  transportation  by  railroad  routes,  and  here- 
after detailed  estimates  shall  be  submitted  for  such  services 
in  the  annual  Book  of  Estimates. 

(35)  The  Postmaster  General  shall,  from  time  to  time,  request 
information  from  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  as 
to  the  revenue  received  by  railroad  companies  from  express 
companies  for  services  rendered  in  the  transportation  of  ex- 
press matter,  and  may,  in  his  discretion,  arrange  for  the 

24 


transportation  of  mail  matter  other  than  of  the  first  class 
at  rates  not  exceeding  those  so  ascertained  and  reported  to 
him,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  railroad  companies  to 
carry  such  mail  matter  at  such  rates  fixed  by  the  Post- 
master  General. 


Comment : 

As  the  mail  and  express  services  performed  by  the  railroads 
are  in  marked  degree  dissimilar  in  nature,  and  were  decided  so 
to  be  by  the  Joint  Congressional  Committee  on  Railway  Mail 
Pay,  the  rates  received  by  the  railroads  for  the  one  service  form 
no  proper  criterion  in  framing  rates  for  the  other.  Paragraph 
35  does  not  indicate  whether  the  ton-mile  or  the  car-mile 
earnings  would  be  the  basis  of  comparison,  yet  the  Moon  bill 
would  make  the  car-mile  the  basis  of  mail  pay,  while  the  express 
receipts  of  the  railroads  are  based  on  the  ton-mile.  But  which- 
ever basis  were  chosen,  it  would  be  found  that  in  some  cases 
mail,  and  in  other  cases  the  express  transportation,  yields  the 
railroads  the  higher  gross  return.  The  net  return  from  express 
would  be  higher  in  nearly  all  cases,  as  the  service  is  materially 
cheaper  for  the  railroads  to  perform. 

However,  the  paragraph,  as  it  is  drawn,  would  permit  the 
Postmaster  General  to  discriminate,  and  to  adopt  the  express 
standard  of  gross  compensation,  where  that  was  the  lower,  and 
adhere  to  the  mail  pay  rates  in  the  cases  where  they  were  lower. 
In  justice,  if  it  should  be  thought  that  the  gross  return  to  the 
railroads  from  express  business  is  a  correct  guide  for  mail  pay, 
then  the  Postmaster  General  should  be  required  to  adopt  the 
structure  of  express  rates  in  its  entirety  or  not  at  all. 

Moreover,  as  the  words  "not  exceeding"  again  appear,  the 
Postmaster  General  would  not  be  obliged  actually  to  follow  the 
express  rates,  but  could  pay  as  much  less  as  he  might  choose. 

The  paragraph  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  second,  and  very 
broad,  authorization  to  the  Postmaster  General  to  devise  and  apply  a 
system  of  transportation,  and  plan  of  payment,  wholly  different  from 
that  created  in  detail  by  the  main  body  of  the  bill, 

25 


Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(36)  The  Postmaster  General  is  authorized,  in  his  discretion, 
to  petition  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  for  the 
determination  of  a  postal  carload  or  less-than -carload  rate  for 
transportation  of  mail  matter  of  the  fourth  class  and  periodi- 
cals, and  may  provide  for  and  authorize  such  transportation, 
when  practicable,  at  such  rates,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  railroad  companies  to  provide  and  perform  such  service 
at  such  rates  and  on  the  conditions  prescribed  by  the 
Postmaster  General. 

Comment : 

This  paragraph,  applying  to  about  75  or  80  per  cent,  of 
the  mail  tonnage,  contains  the  third  authorization  under  which 
the  Postmaster  General  could  put  into  effect  systems  of  mail 
transportation  and  payment  for  the  service,  devised  by  himself. 

The  fourth-class  mail  being  the  parcel  post,  this  paragraph 
apparently  contemplates  its  further  extension  in  the  direction 
of  a  general  freight  service,  which  the  railroads  would  be 
compelled  to  render  in  competition  with  their  own  business. 

The  inclusion  of  periodicals  apparently  contemplates  the 
extension  of  the  practice  of  providing  an  inferior  service  for 
the  transportation  of  such  mail. 

The  paragraph  leaves  the  determination  of  rates  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  this  being  the  only  instance 
in  the  bill  in  which  rates  are  not  to  be  left  optional  with  the 
Postmaster  General.  This,  however,  is  practically  neutralized 
by  the  provision  allowing  the  Postmaster  General  to  determine 
the  conditions  of  the  service,  since  rates  adequate  under  certain 
conditions  might  be  wholly  inadequate  under  others. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(37)  The  Postmaster  General  may,  in  his  discretion,  dis- 
tinguish between  the  several  classes  of  mail  matter  and  pro- 
vide for  less  frequent  dispatches  of  mail  matter  of  the  third 
and  fourth  classes  and  periodicals,  when  lower  rates  for 
transportation  or  other  economies  may  be  secured  thereby 
w^ithout  material  detriment  to  the  service. 

26 


Comment : 

This  paragraph  contains  the  fourth  authorization  to  the 
Postmaster  General  to  institute  other  schemes  of  mail  trans- 
portation than  that  created  by  the  main  body  of  the  bill.  It  also 
specifies  a  definite  means  whereby  the  practice  of  providing 
slower  transportation  service  for  periodicals  might  be  extended 
by  reducing  such  mail  practically  to  the  status  of  merchandise 

freight. 

*     *     *     * 

The  authority  granted  under  paragraphs  32,  35,  36 
and  37  would  permit  the  Postmaster  General  to  nullify 
completely  the  *' space  plan"  of  transportation  and  pay- 
ment, which  purports  to  be  the  chief  feature  of  the  Moon 
bill,  save  as  to  the  letter  mail,  or  less  than  10  per  cent,  of 
the  whole. 

Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(38)  The  Postmaster  General  is  authorized  to  return  to  the 
mails,  when  practicable  for  the  utilization  of  car  space  paid 
for  and  not  needed  for  the  mails,  postal  cards,  stamped 
envelopes,  newspaper  wrappers,  empty  mail  bags,  furniture, 
equipment,  and  other  supplies  for  the  Postal  Service. 

(39)  The  Postmaster  General,  in  cases  of  emergency  between 
October  1  and  April  1  of  any  year,  may  hereafter  return  to 
the  mails  empty  mail  bags  and  other  equipment  theretofore 
withdrawn  therefrom  as  required  by  la'w,  and  where  such 
return  requires  additional  authorization  of  car  space  under 
the  provisions  of  this  section  to  pay  for  the  transportation 
thereof  as  provided  for  herein  out  of  the  appropriation  for 
inland  transportation  by  railroad  routes. 

(40)  The  Postmaster  General  may  have  the  weights  of  mail 
taken  on  railroad  mail  routes  and  computations  of  the 
average  loads  of  the  several  classes  of  cars  and  other  compu- 
tations for  statistical  and  administrative  purposes  made  at 
such  times  as  he  may  elect,  and  pay  the  expense  thereof  out 
of  the  appropriation  for  inland  transportation  by  railroad 
routes. 

(41)  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  railroad  company  to  refuse 
to  perform  mail  service  at  the  rates  of  compensation  provided 

27 


by  law  when  and  for  the  period  required  by  the  Postmaster 
General  so  to  do,  and  for  every  such  offense  it  shall  be  fined 
not  exceeding  $5000. 

Comment : 

Paragraph  41  makes  the  service  of  carrying  the  mails  com- 
pulsory, with  an  extreme  penalty  for  refusal. 

For  more  than  80  years  the  railroads  have  carried  the  mails 
without  specific  statutory  requirement.  They  are  doing  so  to- 
day, despite  many  inequitable  conditions  which  have  arisen. 
The  economic  and  social  requirements  of  the  nation  necessitate 
that  the  mails  shall  be  carried  by  the  railroads,  as  no  other 
general  means  exist  for  the  performance  of  this  service. 

The  importance  of  this  severe  penal  provision  of  the  Moon 
bill  does  not  lie  in  any  possible  strengthening  of  the  assurance 
that  the  mails  will  continue  to  be  carried  upon  the  railroads. 

Where  its  importance  does  lie  is  in  the  fact  that  it 
would  specifically  compel  the  railroads  to  submit  to  what- 
ever rates  or  conditions  of  service  the  Postmaster  General 
might  impose  under  the  broad  delegations  of  legislative 
power  which  other  sections  of  the  Moon  bill  would  con- 
fer upon  him. 

The  phrase  in  this  paragraph,  **at  the  rates  of  compensa- 
tion provided  by  law,''  would  mean  simply  the  rates  fixed  by  the 
Postmaster  General,  because,  if  the  Moon  bill  became  law,  the 
rate-making  power  (within  the  specified  maximum  limitations) 
would  be  vested  in  the  Postmaster  General. 

*     *     *     * 

It  has  been  claimed  that  the  Moon  bill  merely  follows  the 
wording  of  the  present  law  in  using  the  words  *'not  exceed- 
ing'* in  connection  with  rates.  But  there  is  this  most  impor- 
tant distinction,  that  the  present  law  does  not  make  it  legally 
obligatory  upon  the  railroads  to  accept  whatever  rates  and 
conditions  the  Postmaster  General  might  oflFer.  The  Moon 
bill  would  carry  this  compulsion  and  remove  a  protection 
which  has  been  of  especial  value  to  small  railroads. 

28 


Moon  Bill  Text, 

Continued 

(42)  That  the  appropriations  for  inland  transportation  by 
railroad  routes  and  for  railway  post  oflBce  car  service  for  the 
fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1916,  are  hereby  made  available 
for  the  purposes  of  this  section. 

(43)  That  after  the  rates  specified  in  this  Act  shall  have 
been  in  effect  for  a  period  of  one  year,  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  shall,  whenever  requested  by  the  Post- 
master General  or  by  the  representatives  of  railroads  with 
an  aggregate  mileage  of  at  least  51  per  cent,  of  the  mileage 
of  railroads  carrying  mail,  make  an  investigation  of  the  jus- 
tice and  reasonableness  of  rates  then  in  effect,  grant  hear- 
ings to  parties  in  interest,  and  report  to  Congress  at  the 
earliest  practicable  date  thereafter  the  results  of  such  inves- 
tigation, making  specific  findings  as  to  whether  the  rates 
fixed  herein  should  be  increased  or  decreased  and,  if  either, 
how  much :  Provided,  further,  That  such  investigations 
thereafter  shall  not  be  made  more  frequently  than  biennially. 
Such  report  shall  show  for  each  steam  railroad  operating 
company,  if  practicable,  the  amount  of  mail  service  rendered, 
the  cost  of  performing  same,  and  a  comparison  of  the  earn- 
ings of  such  railroad  company  from  mail  traffic  with  those 
from  express  traffic  and  other  passenger-train  traffic.  For 
the  purposes  of  such  investigations  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  shall  have  all  powers  which  it  is  now  author- 
ized to  exercise  in  the  investigation  of  the  reasonableness  of 
rates,  and  the  Postmaster  General  shall  supply  such  infor- 
mation regarding  the  mail  service  as  may  be  requested  by 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission :  Provided  further, 
That  the  Postmaster  General  may,  in  his  discretion,  make 
independent  investigations  and  reports. 

Comment : 

This  final  paragraph.  No.  43,  was  not  in  the  original  Moon  bill 
or  rider,  but  was  added,  as  a  compromise,  on  the  night  of  March 
3,  1915,  by  the  Senate  and  House  conferrees,  after  a  prolonged 
deadlock.  Its  provision  for  a  reference  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  can  only  he  construed  as  a  confession  that  the  Post- 
master General  is  not^  the  proper  authority  to  be  vested  with  the  power 
of  dictating  what  the  railroads  shall  be  paid  for  mail  transportation, 

29 


Even  with  this  modification  the  Moon  rider  failed  of  passage, 
and  with  it  the  entire  Post  Office  appropriation  bill  for  1915-16, 
necessitating  emergency  legislation  in  the  closing  hours  of 
the  session. 

As  to  the  phrase  used  in  the  first  sentence  of  paragraph  43, 
*'  the  rates  specified  in  this  Act,"  and  the  phrase  underscored  in 
the  tenth  and  eleventh  lines  of  the  paragraph,  '*  the  rates  fixed 
herein,*'  the  criticism  may  be  repeated  that  the  proposed  act  does 
not  specify  or  fix  any  definite  rates  at  all,  but  in  every  case  pro- 
vides that  the  Postmaster  General  may  fix  the  rates,  *'  not  exceed- 
ing'' various  designated  sums. 

Attention  may  also  be  called  to  the  confusion  of  meaning 
involved  in  the  provision  that  after  the  rates  specified  shall  have 
been  effective  a  year,  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
may  investigate  the  rates  then  in  effect.  This  discloses  the  expec- 
tation that  at  the  end  of  a  year  the  rates  then  in  effect  would  be 
lower  than  those  tentatively  named  in  the  bill. 


*     *     *     * 


The  idea  of  leaving  a  way  open  for  appeal  to  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  by  either  side,  after  a  trial  of  the  new 
legislation,  was  adopted  from  the  bill  recommended  by  the 
Joint  Congressional  Committee  on  Railway  Mail  Pay  in  its 
report  of  August  31,  1914.  The  Joint  Committee  bill,  how- 
ever, would  have  allowed  such  an  appeal  if  requested  by  25  per 
cent,  of  the  railroad  mileage.  When  the  provision  was 
incorporated  into  the  Moon  rider,  the  requirement  was  made 
51  per  cent. 

It  may  also  be  observed  that  no  provision  whatever  is  made 
by  which  a  railroad  could  appeal  from  any  specific  order  or 
decision  of  the  Postmaster  General,  notwithstanding  the  vast 
discretionary  powers  and  compulsory  authority  that  would  be 
placed  in  his  hands.  Recourse  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  could  only  be  had  by  concerted  action  of  the  rail- 
roads and  then  only  in  regard  to  conditions  of  a  general  character. 

Moreover,  the  Moon  rider,  after  vesting  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  with  the  authority  and  duty  of  in- 

30 


vestigating  and  determining  the  reasonableness  of  railway  mail 
pay  rates,  complicates  and  greatly  weakens  the  provision  by 
the  further  grant  of  power  to  the  Postmaster  General,  in 
his  discretion,  to  ''make  independent  investigations  and 
reports/' 

In  regard  to  this  entire  paragraph  of  the  Moon  rider  it 
seems  pertinent  to  remark  that  if  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  is  to  be  regarded  by  Congress  as  the  proper 
authority  to  decide  the  adequacy  of  railway  mail  pay  rates, 
matters  might  be  greatly  simplified  by  vesting  the  Commission 
with  plenary  powers  to  consider  and  settle  the  whole  problem. 


31 


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